Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

calendar) depending on whether a Jewish leap month intervened and on the length of time from conception to 

birth (this argument is explained in detail in chapter 5). These months of the Jewish calendar correspond to the 

last few months of the Christian calendar. Thus, according to this interpretation of Sacred Scripture, Christ 

was born during the late fall or early winter. (A more exact date for the Birth of Christ, based on this line of 

reasoning, can be given if one also knows the year of Christ's Birth, and this is presented in chapter 5.) 

    Since Christ was born in the last few months of the calendar year, He must have been born in either late 16 

B.C.

 or late 15 

B.C.

, during either the first or second year of the census/taxation, which ran from mid 16 

B.C.

to mid 14 

B.C.

 Without referring to the words of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the choice between late 

16 

B.C.

 and late 15 

B.C.

 is less than certain. However, the Gospel of Luke does indicate that the city of 

Bethlehem was crowded at the time of Christ's Birth, since there was no room for the Holy Family at the inn, 

and the only place left for the Christ Child was in a manger (Lk 2:7). People at that time in history, as is much 

the same today, preferred to pay their taxes later, rather than sooner.

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 Also, because communication was not 

as fast and widely available as it is today, after a census/taxation decree was issued by the government in 

Rome, it took many months for word of this to spread among the people, and then longer for the people to 

make the trip to the place of their birth. Thus, it is more likely that Bethlehem would be so crowded in the 

second year of the taxation (the  collecting year ), when people are up against a deadline for paying their 

taxes. In this line of reasoning then, 15 

B.C.

 is preferred over 16 

B.C.

 as the year of Christ's Birth. 

Conclusion 

    Two different lines of reasoning have now led us to the same conclusion, that Christ was bon in the year 15 

B.C.

 First, according to the chronological information given by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, Christ was 

born in a year when Nov. 25 was a Sunday, and was born 7 years earlier than some generally accepted year for 

the Birth of Christ. The only year which fits this criteria is 15 

B.C.

    Further support for this conclusion comes from her statement that Jesus was in about His sixth year at the 

time of Herod's death. Scholars generally date Herod's death no later than 1 

B.C.

 This makes the other years 

when Nov. 25 was a Sunday (4 

B.C.

, 

A.D.

 3) too late to account for Herod dying in Christ's sixth year. 

    The second line of reasoning puts aside the writings of Blessed Anne Catherine and looks at the date of the 

census under Caesar Augustus and Quirinius mentioned by the Gospel of Luke (Lk 2:1 2).  

The historical and archaeological evidence cited above makes the first census under Quirinius, usually dated to 

12/11 

B.C.

, the only reasonable fit to the description of the census given in Sacred Scripture. And the revision 

of the dates of the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, supported by chapters 12, 13, and 14 of this book, place 

that census in 16/15 

B.C.

 The great crowds gathered in Bethlehem for the census kept the Holy Family from 

staying at the inn, and at any usual place of lodging in the city itself, so that the Christ Child had only a 

manger for His bed. The large number of people indicates that the census was nearer to its close than to its 

beginning, so that this was late fall/early winter of 15 

B.C.

, not 16 

B.C. 

    The time of year for the Birth of Christ, sometime during the last months of the Roman calendar, can be 

established from Sacred Scripture. This argument is described briefly above, and in greater detail in chapter 5 

of this book. The conclusion is less precise than the information given by Blessed Anne Catherine, but is in 

harmony with her statements. 

    Further support for this conclusion comes from a revised chronology for the reigns of various Roman rulers. 

The date for Herod's death in this new chronology is 8 

B.C.

, which rules out any date for Christ's Birth later 

than about 10 

B.C.

 Chapter 12, 13, and 14 provide ample support for this revised chronology. 

    The first argument above for the year of Christ's Birth, the one based on Blessed Anne Catherine's words, is 

used in chapter 2 to help determine the year of Christ's Crucifixion. The first argument in chapter 2 for the 

year of the Crucifixion is based on Blessed Anne Catherine's writings and not on the revised Roman 

chronology. 

    The second argument above for the year of Christ's Birth, the one based on a revised set of dates for the 

reigns of various Roman rulers, is independent of the conclusions of chapter 2. The date for the Crucifixion of 

Christ, based on a revised Roman chronology, does not depend on this chapter's date for the Birth of Christ. 

However, once we have established both the date for the Birth of Christ, and, independently, the date of the 

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